Website Evaluation
Search Tips & Tricks
Blythewood High School ‘s Cyber Center Presents:
Website Evaluation
Search Tips and Tricks
Friday, November 4, 2011
Presented by Leah Bartys
Blythewood High School’s Mission :
Blythewood High School provides
engaging educational opportunities
through a rigorous curriculum,
innovative technology, and
involvement in our diverse community to
produce responsible citizens who
contribute to the present and excel in the
future.
1TWO1 Computing
Integrating technology into instruction
and encouraging students to explore and
create meaningful content.
Cyber Center’s Mission :
To ensure that students and staff are
effective users of ideas and information.
(Information Power, 1998).
International Society for
Technology in Education’s NETS
(National Educational Technology
Standards)
• NETS for Students
• NETS for Teachers
• NETS for Administrators
Website Evaluation
Search Tips and Tricks
NETS for Students, Standard 3
Research and Information Fluency
 Locate
 Evaluate
Website Evaluation
Search Tips and Tricks
Some of us may be under the impression that because
we’ve been searching the World Wide Web for years and
we’ve done okay, so this isn’t really that important.
• As it continues to grow in its accessibility, online information
gathering is becoming the norm.
(Get the answer anytime and anywhere…)
• The World Wide Web is only getting bigger and bigger.
• Anybody can create a website that looks credible.
• Google doesn’t evaluate, it crawls.
(This is the case for most of the search engines we use
on a day to day basis.)
Website Evaluation
What can you do?
1. Consider using the tools provided through
the Cyber Center website’s
research tab…
** bhscybercenter.weebly.com **
These tools cannot answer every question, so…
2. Teach your students to effectively evaluate
online resources.
Website Evaluation
Website Evaluation
Evaluating Websites, video created by Suffolk County Community College. 2011.
Website Evaluation
Consider Who…
Who or what
organization/company created
this site or compiled this
information?
Do they have an agenda or bias?
Are they credible? Do they have
any kind of authority on the
subject? Are they a professional
in the field?
Cartoon by Peter Steiner, published page 61 of
July 5, 1993 issue of The New Yorker
(Vol.69 (LXIX) no. 20)
Website Evaluation
Consider What…
versus
What information and details
am I really looking for? What
information is this site
providing? Does it meet or
address my information needs?
What is the purpose of this site?
To educate? To entertain?
To make money?
Photos used under Creative Commons from
Phillie Casablanca (apples) and edans (oranges)
Website Evaluation
Consider When…
When was this site created? Is it
dated?
What is the copyright date? Is it
easy to find?
When was the content last
updated?
Is my search topic time
sensitive?
(ex. Computer Technology vs.
the Civil War)
Website Evaluation
Consider Where…
Where did the author of this
resource get his/her
information?
Are sources cited?
Photos used under Creative Commons
from brownpau.
Website Evaluation
Photos used under Creative Commons fromKellBailey.
Consider Why or WORTH…
Will the information provided
by this source enhance or add
value to my project,
presentation, or research paper?
Website Evaluation
Find, alter, or create a website evaluation form that is tailored to
your subject and your assignment expectations.
Ex. Dalhousie University’s Checklist for Evaluating Websites includes a detailed list
of evaluation criteria.
Introduce your students to some suspicious websites. Examine
them and discuss why they are or are not credible sources.
Resource: Explore this Gallery of Hoax websites for some stellar conversation starters.
Keep in mind, though, that not all faulty resources are so easily identified.
Search Tips & Tricks
Web Search Strategies in Plain English, by CommonCraft
Search Tips & Tricks
Boolean Search Terms
to
Hone in on What You Really Want
and +
or
not “ ___ ”
Search Tips & Tricks
Try It…
 Begin a Google Search.
 Type Abraham Lincoln into the search bar.
 Note the number of hits resulting from this search.
 Alter your search term by adding quotation marks  “Abraham Lincoln”
 Note the number of hits resulting from your new search. It probably didn’t decrease by
much, but there should be some difference.
 Now let’s narrow the search even more. Let’s say you’re looking for information on
Abraham Lincoln’s childhood, so enter your new search using a Boolean search term 
“Abraham Lincoln” AND childhood
 Again, this should narrow your results even more.
Search Tips & Tricks
Now Let’s Try It in DISCUS…
 Begin a DISCUS SmartSearch.
 Type Abraham Lincoln into the search bar.
 Note the number of hits resulting from this search.
 Alter your search term by adding quotation marks  “Abraham Lincoln”
 Note the number of hits resulting from your new search. It probably didn’t decrease by
much, but there should be some difference.
 Now let’s narrow the search even more. Let’s say you’re looking for information on
Abraham Lincoln’s childhood, so enter your new search using a Boolean search term 
“Abraham Lincoln” AND childhood
 Again, this should narrow your results even more. Take a moment to scroll through your
results.
 Your results may seem a bit random. Return to the top of the screen and look for the
results display mode sort box. Select relevancy-ranked. Your results should now
reflect your information needs.
Search Tips & Tricks
There are other tricks to use when searching that
allow you to:
• find what other sites link to a particular source
• find other sources that are related to a particular
source
• and more…
Search Tips & Tricks
For more advanced learners and for teachers who want to know how to do it all,
you may want to refer to…
Google for Educators
Search Tips & Tricks
Keep it simple for most students.
Search Tips & Tricks
Other Resources:
Google Guide
Google Web Search | More Search Help
Thank you!
Take time, now, to explore either DISCUS, the Cyber Center databases, or
the World Wide Web using the search tips and tricks we discussed.
If you find anything really exciting for your content area, please submit it
to The Collective Brain on the Cyber Center’s website under
Tools for Teachers.
And, before you go…
Please take a moment to fill out the in-service exit slip that
is linked on the Cyber Center website.